How F-16s Will Change the Battlefield in Ukraine

F-16C of the South Carolina Air National Guard in-flight over North Carolina equipped with air-to-air missiles, bomb rack, targeting pods, and electronic countermeasures pods. Public domain

A curious feature (or maybe a bug) of the war in Ukraine has been the limited use of airpower on both sides. Former U.S. Air Force general Philip Breedlove has described the air situation as one of “mutual denial”.

Russia’s air defenses are clearly effective at keeping Ukrainian aircraft away from the front, and Moscow, in the interest of not losing any more hardware in its…